User:FieldofMimes

The Sandbag Shelters project is a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004. Originally completed in Tehran, Iran in 1992, these shelters sought to create emergency housing for citizens and global refugees. The shelters are created by citizens themselves through filling sandbags with any type of earth materials and then compiling these bags into dome formations. Following this, the structure is bound by barbed wire to ensure stability. The architect, Nader Khalili, felt that due to the impending amount of global refugees, an immediate and sustainable solution was desired. As a result of ample research, the Sandbag Shelters project was devised and implemented.

Technology: As stated previously, the sandbags are filled with dirt, sand, or other earth materials at their disposal. Following that, the sandbags are placed in a dome like shape, surrounded with barbed wire. This helps to ensure the structure is kept in a stable condition at all times.

Significance: While the project is of global importance, Khalili also intertwined a philosophical Sufi aspect of Islam where "the unity of the elements of earth, water, air and fire; harnessing sustainable energy – sun, shade, gravity; geometry and symmetry; and the unity of tension and compression" are presented. 

/Sandbag Shelters Project